Garbage grinder feeder



Dec. 6, 1960 A. RHODES GARBAGE GRINDER FEEDER Filed June 10, 1955 INVENTOR, LESLIE A.RHODES BY Ala United States GARBAGE GRINDER FEEDER Filed June 10, 1955, Ser. No. 514,435

'1 Claim. (Cl. 241-46) This invention relates to material grinders, and more particularly to a grinder adapted to receive garbage and the like. In general, the invention comprises a grinder of the type stated and includes a feed hopper for the grinder having breaker and feed means for breaking up the material delivered to the hopper before it is fed to the grinder. One of the objects of this invention is to provide an improved material grinder of the character described which is more efiicient in operation in that it is adapted to receive and dispose of material of a size ordinarily too bulky to be received in the grinders presently available. An advantage and feature of the construction embodied'in the present invention is that bulky materials are broken up or compressed and reduced to a smaller size for faster and more efficient handling in the grinder prior to being fed into the material receiving opening of the grinder.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved materials reducing grinder having mechanism for feeding materials to the grinder which includes a hopper having a wide feed opening therein which is larger than the grinder feed opening. There is also provided, in the hopper, breaker and feed means which operate to break up, crush and grind materials delivered to the hopper, and which then feeds such materials directly to the feed receiving opening of the grinder.

It is also an object of the invention to provide for a materials grinder an improved type of breaker and feed means which includes a pair of rotors having arms constructed and spaced so that they interleaf during rotation to provide both a breaking action and a feeding action on the materials received.

Other objects, advantages and features of this invention will appear hereinafter, the novel features and combinations being set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein for purposes of illustration and explanation a preferred embodiment only of the invention is shown:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of a grinder incorporating the features of the invention and constructed in accordance therewith; and

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the grinder from the right side thereof.

Referring further to the drawings, a grinder 11) is disclosed which may comprise in general apparatus of the type described and shown in United States Patent No. 2,591,076, issued April 1, 1952. This type of grinder includes a cylindrical portion, indicated generally at 11, which forms a reducing or grinding chamber. The feed chute or opening 12 for chamber 11 is formed as an integral part of this portion of the grinder. A discharge chute or opening 13 is located below the reducing chamber. The main frame of grinder 11) supports an electric motor 14, as shown, which provides for driving the grinding elements mounted in chamber 11. Since the construction and operation of this portion of the grinder is well known, a further description thereof is omitted.

atent (T 2,953,229 Patented Dec; 6, 1960 The mechanism for feeding materials to the grinder through the feed opening 12 includes a hopper 15. As shown in the drawings, the hopper 15 has converging side walls, indicated at 16 and 17 in Fig. 2, which taper at their lower ends to form a housing 18 aligned with and adapted to be received within the feed chute opening 12. The lower end of housing 18 is provided with a flange which is bolted, as indicated at 19, to a collar mounted on the upper end of the feed chute opening 12. The front and back walls of hopper 15 are shown at 20 and 21 in Fig. 1. The lower part of front wall 20 also forms an integral part of housing 18. Back wall 21 is provided with a liner or breaker plate 22 (Fig. 1) which reinforces and strengthens that portion of the hopper 12 for a purpose more fully described hereinafter.

A cover 23 is hinged to the top of wall 21 and extends over a portion of the upper end of the hopper 15, as seen most clearly in Fig. 1, and forms a closure member therefor. A handle 24 is provided for raising the cover 23 when it is desired to have access to the interior of that portion of the hopper over which the cover 23 extends. As shown in Fig. l, the cover 23 extends only part way over the top of the hopper 15, leaving a wide feed opening 25 unobstructed. The feed opening 25 is much wider and larger than the feed chute opening 12, as illustrated, and is adapted to receive large and bulky materials or objects which are too large to go through the feed chute opening 12 before being crushed or reduced insize as hereinafter described. Thus, in one preferred size of grinder the feed chute opening 12 is horizontally across the opening approximately 6 inches by 6 inches. The feed opening 25 in the hopper 15, in the same model, is approximately 1 /2 feet by 2 /2 feet horizontally across the opening.

Breaker and feed means, indicated generally at 26 in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, are mounted within the housing 18 of hopper 15, and provide for breaking or crushing and grinding to reduce the size of bulky materials delivered to the hopper 15 so that such materials can be delivered to and pass through the feed chute opening 12 more easily and without clogging or binding in the grinding chamber 11. The breaker and feed means 26 includes a pair of rotors 27 and 28 (Fig. 1), each rotor having spaced three-pointed or star-shaped spiders 29 and 30, the arms of which interleaf during rotation.

As shown in the drawings, there are three of the spiders 29 on rotor 27. It is to be understood, however,

that more, or less, than three may be used, depending upon the size of the grinder. In the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the spiders 29 are spaced along a shaft 31, being keyed thereto. In operation it has been found that if the spiders 29 are about 12 inches across, one inch thick and spaced about one inch apart on shaft 31, satisfactory performance is obtained. Rotor 27 is driven by shaft 31 which is rotatably mounted, being journaled at each end thereof in bearings 32 carried on the side walls of housing 18. Means for rotating the shaft 31 includes a sprocket 33 carried on the end of shaft 31 having a chain 34 connected to a sprocket 35 driven by an electric motor 136.

Rotor 28 has four of the spiders 30 (see Fig. 2). As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the spiders 30 are spaced along a shaft 36, being keyed thereto. The two inner spiders 30 (Fig. 2) are about 12 inches across and 1 inch thick so that they interleaf between the spiders 29 when rotating. The two end spiders 30 are also about 12 inches across, but these two spiders are only approximately 7 of an inch in thickness and extend between the ends of the spiders 29 and the side walls of housing 18. These end spiders 30, when rotating, provide for keeping the side walls of the housing 18 clean and free of materialswhich would have a tendency to stick or lodge thereon. Rotor 28 is driven by shaft 36 which is rotatably mounted, being journaled at each end thereof in bearings 37 (Fig. 2) carried on the side walls of housing 18. Means for rotating the shaft 36 includes a sprocket 38 carried on the end of shaft 36 having a chain 39 connected to a sprocket 40 carried on the end of shaft 31, opposite from the sprocket 33. Rotor 28 is thus driven from rotor 27, the rotors being connected to rotate together, and in the same direction, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1, and at a speed of approximately 60 rpm.

A strip of sheet rubber 41 is attached to the outer edge of cover 23 and hangs down so as to extend between the rotors 27 and 28, as shown in Fig. 1. This strip or flap is flexible and forms a screen which prevents materials or parts thereof when crushed between the rotors from flying back out throughthe opening 25 in the hopper 15. It also prevents Water sprayed into the grinder compartment 12 from pipe 42 from splashing out.

It will be apparent that in operation large or bulky articles, such as, for example, milk cartons, cabbages, and the like, may be delivered through the hopper opening 25. These materials receive a crushing or breaking and grinding action between the rotors 27 and 28 and then are delivered against the breaker plate 22 where further crushing, grinding and breaking is effected before the materials are fed into the feed chute opening 12 of the grinder 10.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended, and applicant therefore wishes not to be restricted to the precise construction herein disclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of the invention, what it is desired to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A garbage grinder having a feed opening, mechanism for feeding material to said grinder through said feed opening including a hopper having a wide feed opening larger than said grinder feed opening, and breaker and feed means within said hopper constructed to break up material delivered to said hopper and feed it to said grinder, said breaker and feed means including a pair of rotors each having spaced three-pointed spiders, said spiders being alternately disposed on the respective rotors and comprising identical blunt radially extending arms adapted to interleaf with each other during rotation of the rotors, a flexible bafile projecting between said rotors, and means for rotating said rotors to feed material to said grinder feed opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 351,483 Baldwin Oct. 26, 1886 1,153,661 Whitaker Sept. 14, 1915 1,731,956 Wagner Oct. 15, 1929 1,916,773 Shaler July 4, 1933 2,030,541 Rose Feb. 11, 1936 2,068,599 Ehrsam Jan. 19, 1937 2,237,504 Roath Apr. 8, 1941 2,282,718 Fuoijka May 12, 1942 2,440,051 Lind et a1. Apr. 20, 1948 2,472,725 Rundle June 7, 1949 2,505,023 Williamson Apr. 25, 1950 2,581,037 Meissner et a1. J an. 1, 1952 2,593,359 Strehlow et a1 Apr. 15, 1952 2,731,208 Dodd Jan. 7, 1956 

